Chin-rest



(N0 Model.)

J. H. CLARKE.

I CHIN REST. No. 324,083. Patented Aug. 11, 1885.

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JOSEPH H. CLARKE, OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO.

CHIN- REST.

S PECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 324,083, dated August 11, 1885.

Application filed January 14, 1885. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J OSEPH H. CLARKE, of the city of Springfield, county of Clark, and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Chin-Supports for Deceased Persons, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to chin-supporters to 'be used with deceased persons during the process of embalming, 8m.

As is well known, the chin of deceased persons frequently drops from its natural or normal position and becomes rigid or set in that state, and much difficulty has been experienced in resetting or elevating the chin to and retaining the same in its natural position.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and cheaply-constructed device which may be used with deceased persons to elevate the chin and support it in its natural position, the said device being quickly placed in position and adjusted to different lengths to raise or lower the chin more or less to secure the desired results, the said chin-rest being held in place by the weight of the chin upon it.

The utility of this device will be obviously apparent, as it may be used not only with deceased subjects undergoing embalming, but may be used to great advantage with subjects prepared for burial, as it obviates the obnoxious distortions consequent to a fallen chin or jaw, which have rendered the subject so unsightly; and as the device is of a compact nature its use in connection with a subject is hardly noticeable.

My invention consists in a hollow metallic cylindrical barrel for chin-supports, having a rounded lower end, and being provided with a central slot extending in the direction of its length from one end to or near its opposite end, said cylinder having a series of elongated slots formed therein at one side of the central slot, in combination with a chin-rest rod to fit the barrel, said rod being provided at or near its lower end with a projecting pin to engage the elongated slots, and at its opposite end with a slightly-concaved chin-rest, substantially as and for the purpose hereinafter set forth.

Figure 1 represents in perspective a chinsupport constructed in accordance with my invention, and Fig. 2 a plan view of a blank from which the cylindrical barrel or base represented in Fig. 1 is formed.

The barrel or base A is formed from a thin sheet of metal, said metal being of the shape illustrated inFig. 2 of the drawings, and having slots B cut in one of its side edges to form a rack, the lower end of said metallic sheet having a portion cut away, as shown at a, to thereby form two depending strips, 1) b',which are to form the bottom of the cylinder, as hereinafter set forth.

The strip A will in practice be rolled around a former of the desired diameter to form the cylinder or barrel of the chin-support, the edges being suffioiently separated to form the slot 0 between them, the slots or teeth B being at one side thereof.

The cylinder may, if desired, be of cast metal but it is preferable to form it of sheet metal, as it would require no finish, and may be more cheaply constructed.

After the sheet A is rolled to form the cylinder, the depending strips 1) b are then bent to ward and so as to contact with each other, thereby forming a rounded bottom for the cylinder or base of the chin-support. Sliding in the cylinder A is a chin-rest=supporting rod, D, the said rod being provided at its upper end with a slightly-concaved chin-rest piece, E, to support the chin of the subject. At or near the lower end of the rod D is a projecting pin, d, said pin being adapted to engage the rack-teeth B,to support the chin-rest in the desired position after adjustment, the slot 0 forming an entrance to the said teeth B, and acting as a guide for the pin (1'.

The operation of my improved chin-supporting device is as follows, viz: The lower rounded end of the cylindrical base A is rested upon the sternu m-bone and the chin-rest piece E placed under the chin of the subject, after which the chin-rest is adjusted to the desired height by lifting the chin-rest rod more or less and engaging its pin d with the different slots or teeth of the rack. The lower end of the cylinder-base being seated in the interclavicular notch of the first piece of thesternum-bone, the pressure of the chin upon the chin-rest piece E retains the same in place.

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I am aware that a chin support or adjuster 5 also aware that a chin-adjuster has been constructed having a stem provided with rackteeth out in its face and having a socket to receive said stem, said socket being provided with a spring-pawl to engage the teeth of the o rack; but such constructions I do not desire to claim.

I claim- In a ehin supporter, the barrel A, formed of sheet metal, having a rounded lower end, as

5 described, and provided with the central slot,

0, extending the entire length of the barrel, and the slots B, cut into the metal at one side of slot 0, in combination with the chin-rest rod D, having the chin'rest piece E, and provided with the projecting pin (1, to engage the slots B in the barrel, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal at Springfield, Ohio, this 10th day of December, A. D. 188%.

JOSEPH I-I. CLARKE. [a s] In presence of I. J. OLEVENGER, N. E. O. THITNEY. 

